A Flint, Michigan funeral home has been shut down for unsanitary conditions including unrefrigerated bodies stored in a garage, maggots throughout the building and blood and fluid stains on casket pillows. Inspectors found bodies stored in garages without air conditioning for between three and five months. Crain’s Detroit Business

Fed-OSHA has issued nine citations and $165,000 in penalties to ExxonMobil for alleged violations including inadequate training and equipment maintenance, following an explosion that injured four workers at a Baton Rouge refinery last year. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board also is investigating the incident. Five years ago the Environmental Protection Agency identified that the facility […]

According to Fed-OSHA, health care and social assistance sector employees experience workplace-violence injuries at a rate of 8.2 per 10,000 works, over four times higher than the average private sector rate. A shooting at the end of last month at a Bronx hospital has raised new questions about how to better protect them. Fed-OSHA doesn’t […]

Kentucky OSHA has fined Montaplast, a plastics manufacturer for the automobile industry, $21,000 following the unrelated October deaths of two employees, one 35 years old and the other 23. One was killed after a portion of an overhead crane struck her in the head while she was attempting to change a mold in an injection […]

A new Fed-OSHA fact sheet is intended to protect residential construction workers operating in confined spaces such as attics, basements and crawl spaces. It urges employers to ensure a competent person identifies the types and number of confined spaces before each project. The fact sheet also includes information about types of employers and employer obligations […]

North Carolina relies on roughly 80,000 farm workers annually to harvest tobacco, sweet potatoes, Christmas trees, fruit, cucumbers and vegetables. They also work on hog and poultry farms and in factories, greenhouses and nurseries. Some of these immigrant workers are children although no one knows for sure how many. Advocacy groups and farm workers say […]

Honolulu airport employees who check-in travelers curbside say they’re resorting to wearing face masks in order to avoid breathing in construction dust, as a contractor repairs the road that fronts the overseas terminal. Some say they may contact HIOSHA over the situation. Hawaii News Now [with video]

Over the last two decades, more workers have died at Tampa Electric’s power plants than at those run by any other Florida utility, including much larger companies, according to the Tampa Bay Times. TECO covers less than 10 percent of households in the state. The utility says its internal statistics show a steady decrease in […]

Sheila Wilson, 73, is still working in nursing and also has co-founded a nonproft aimed at providing a safe workplace for nursing providers. Wilson has been lobbying the Massachusetts Legislature to strengthen penalties for assaults on healthcare workers. “Being punched, bitten, spit upon, groped, jumped on from behind, knocked unconscious, and attacked with weapons are […]

According to the National Safety Council, Oklahoma deserves a failing grade for workplace safety based on factors including the lack of a drug-free workplace law, the lack of a workplace ban on smoking and poorly rated workers’ compensation laws for injured workers. The safety council also recommends having specific rules for workplace violence, a workplace […]

According to federal injury data, Pennsylvania had the third-highest number of injuries reported in 2015 and 2016, even though it’s sixth in population. Texas had the most, and Florida was second. Two other states with more people than Pennsylvania reported fewer injuries: Illinois and New York. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

From the beginning of 2015 through the end of 2016, the United States Postal Service reported 395 severe injuries, the most of any employer. Behind it was Walmart, with 155 severe injuries and the United Parcel Service with 136. No other employer during that time period had more than 75. The high numbers can be […]

NPR’s ongoing investigation of the advanced stage of the fatal lung disease that afflicts coal miners has identified an additional 1,000 cases in Appalachia. NPR’s count is now 20 times what had been considered the official tally of the advanced stage of disease. NIOSH is surveying clinics and has also found astonishing rates of disease, […]

The N.C. Senate took a final, unanimous vote earlier this month on a state senate bill that would require operators of zip lines, challenge courses and similar facilities to carry a liability insurance policy that covers up to $1 million per incident or a total of $2 million. More than 100 zip lines are operating […]